In The News


Women less safe at home
By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer
October 8, 2007

BROCKTON — Domestic violence murders more than doubled in the past two years and experts fear even more may die unless programs to help victims are expanded.

“It is really troubling,” Toni Troop, spokesman for Jane Doe Inc., said last week as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, held every October, got underway.

There were 30 domestic violence-related killings so far this year in the state, up from 24 in all of last year and 14 in 2005.

In Brockton, five of the 11 homicides so far this year were tied to domestic violence.

The increase comes as, nationally, domestic violence killings had dropped between 1975 and 2005.

Mary Lauby, executive director of Jane Doe, said there appears to be a correlation between funding cuts for domestic violence programs and other programs to help the poor in the state in recent years.

“We do not have advocates at the local level like we once did,” Lauby said. “When we did have more ... the homicides went down.”

David Adams, author of “Why Do They Kill: Men who Murder Intimate Partners,” said those reductions have far-reaching effects for abused women trying to get out of violent relationships.
“The safety net for the poorest women has really been eroded,” Adams, co-director of Emerge, a Cambridge-based program for men who batter, said.

Nationally, the number of killings dropped for black husbands, ex-husbands and black girlfriends between 1976 and 2005. However, the rate for white girlfriends was higher in 2005 than it was in 1976, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Adams said the number of men killed in domestic incidents has gone down faster than in any other category.

“That is widely attributed to battered women's programs. The majority of men killed before are actually battering men who were killed by women who are trying to escape abuse,” he said.
Police Chief William Conlon said police, working with the district attorney's office, identify “chronic offenders” who are at high risk of re-offending.

Through the program “Safety First,” authorities work to get victims help and have talked with jailed offenders to break the cycle of violence, he said.

“They are on our radar screen,” Conlon said of the offenders.

But it is still difficult to prevent domestic violence-related homicides, he said.

“Unfortunately, you can't have a crystal ball,” Conlon said.

For the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Gov. Deval Patrick last week announced a “zero-tolerance” policy for domestic violence in the state and highlighted the more than $5 million in federal and state funding for prevention programs.

Lauby said there has been a 15 percent cut in funding on the federal level but believes the current administration in the state will try to put more money into the programs.

“I think we have turned the corner in the state,” she said.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from a Day of Unity first observed in October 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The intent was to connect battered women's advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children.

The Day of Unity soon became a special week when a range of activities were conducted at the local, state, and national levels. In October 1987, the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed.